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Thursday, October 21, 2010

All is not well with Continuous Evaluation

For reducing the burden on students of examination and bringing radical changes in the education system, Kapil Sibbal, Minister for Human Resources Development has introduced Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE). The system was introduced last year for the students of class IX and same has been introduced for class X students. Recently, Central Board of Secondary Examination (CBSE) has, in fact, prescribed that CCE should be implemented in classes VI, VII and VIII as well, which many schools have adopted. The CCE takes into account both the scholastic and non-scholastic aspects and students are given grades instead of marks.

In order to relieve students from stress they were undergoing due to year end board examinations, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has introduced continuous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE) which will help schools to evaluate students at school level itself.

But the system has not gone the way that HRD ministry want earlier. There is disappointment against the CCE in students, parents and teachers also. Some sections of the education fraternity believe that the scheme has been introduced in hurry without conducting any research for the same. Instead of reducing stress and bringing fun in the education system, it has increased the pressure on student. It Simply means there is not all is well in the campus as far as CCE is concern.

In the system students are being watched throughout the year. Besides academic qualities other qualities of the student should be watched in the system.

“I become wry conscious that someone is watching me. It is as if I have to put up an appearance all the time for fear of being graded negatively.” said Manish, a Class 10 student of the city school.

"I did hate the system at all. This is very complicated because we have to concentrate on studies and not on other projects and assignments. This will not improve the students qualities but it will divert them to elsewhere," said Arnab, student of another city school studying in X class. These reactions are just a tip of Ice berg. If one should go in detail then the Big NO for the CCE will find out.

Teachers have also registered their protest against the system but they do not want to come on record because of disciplinary issues. One of the teacher who taught in the city based school said, “Teaching is not the same any more. Our lives have changed overnight. Assessment on a regular basis under CCE unlike last year’s year-end evaluation has inflated our work.”

"Maintaining several registers for recording academic and non-academic achievements has made the process cumbersome. Stress, as a result has just changed hands from the students to the teachers," said another teacher.

Vice principal of Vikhe Patil Memorial School Mrs Kiran Jadhav However In the the favour of the System, She Said, " From last year We have implemented the CCE in our school. and our students are doing well. Since extra burden of the exams reduced students are enjoying the learning. I think entire scene has changed due to this new system of assessment. "

“There isn’t enough time in one period to say, conduct a quiz or have a discussion on a certain topic and also evaluate all the children at the same time,” said social science teacher at one of the school.

CCE's rule of regular assessment, for instance, has led to many schools putting students under constant scrutiny. The students are obviously not okay with it.

A section of education field feels that out that the system still had drawbacks. According to therm, the teachers need to be very objective towards the students for the system to be successfully implemented.

"It will also put a lot of pressure on children as they are continuously kept under magnifying glass. As there are marks even on personality, fair observation is of utmost importance," said Aparna Kakade, mother of class 9 student.

A little disgruntled, teachers, however, are still on board the CCE train. Getting the brighter students to do the same is one of the biggest challenges in the way of implementing the new evaluation system in its true letter aim spirit. Parents of the academically strong children are also not happy. From having their child top the class to not knowing where he or she stands now – that is quite disappointing for them. But more importantly, it’s the wrong interpretation of the new system that has parents and children across the board most worried.

Swarali kulkarni , another student, thinks this system has helped her clear a lot of doubts. She especially likes the multiple choice questions. About a fourth of questions are of this category. These questions are designed to test students' conceptual clarity. Just mugging up is not the solution these days. Research has to be done too.

"Under this system the children have been given a lot of freedom," said Indu Patil, mother of Vikram, a standard X CBSE student. "They don't even feel it is necessary to study now that be they are evaluated then and there. I just wonder how these children will be able to cope with the higher studies and entrance examinations later," she said.

Box

What is a CCE?

The CCE or Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation scheme refers to a school-based evaluation of students that covers all the aspects of a student’s development. Continuous means regular assessments, frequency of unit testing, analysis of learning gaps, applying corrective measures, retesting and giving feedback to teachers and students for their self-evaluation, etc. Comprehensive on the other hand attempts to cover both the scholastic and the co-scholastic aspects of a student’s growth and development — with both these aspects of the evaluation process being assessed through Formative and Summative Assessments

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